Arras Cathedral and Abbey of Saint-Vaast

The Cathedral and former Abbey of Saint-Vaast occupy a large complex at the east end of the old city. The present cathedral building is eighteenth-century neoclassical — unusually restrained by French ecclesiastical standards — and was heavily damaged in both world wars but restored each time. The stone is a warm cream colour, and the interior has a calm grandeur that rewards a visit even for non-specialist visitors.

The former abbey buildings surrounding the cathedral now house the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Arras, which has an excellent collection of Flemish and Dutch paintings, French porcelain, and medieval sculpture. The museum is one of the better regional fine-arts museums in northern France and entry is inexpensive. The cloister connecting the cathedral to the museum buildings is particularly good — wide, arcaded, and quiet even when the city is busy.

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The original Abbey of Saint-Vaast, founded in the seventh century, was one of the most powerful Benedictine monasteries in northern France and at its height controlled vast landholdings across Artois. It was dissolved in the Revolution and its buildings used as barracks and storehouses; the church became the cathedral in 1802. The museum it now houses contains what was salvaged from religious houses across the region during and after the Revolution — effectively a repository for art that had nowhere else to go.

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